Megatrends

The most influential Megatrends set to shape the world through 2030, identified by Euromonitor International, help businesses better anticipate market developments and lead change for their industries.

PROSPECTS

Credit cards continued to make up only a relatively small portion of overall financial cards value in the Netherlands. While virtually all Dutch merchants accept debit cards as a form of payment, the credit card has never been accepted as much in the Netherlands.

Owning a credit card can lower the consumer’s credit score

One further negative factor working against credit cards in the Netherlands is that having one can reduce the credit score of the owner. In some cases, this could result in lenders increasing mortgage rates for consumers who own a credit card.

Credit cards used abroad or for online entertainment transactions

Credit cards are mostly used abroad by Dutch consumers or for online purchases for which debit cards are not accepted, for example when buying from foreign internet retailers or using online entertainment subscription services of international origin such as Netflix and Spotify. The need to use a credit card for such services should contribute to modest growth in transaction volume and value in the Netherlands.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Mastercard and Visa the dominant operators in the Netherlands

There are two main credit card operators in the Netherlands: Mastercard and Visa. Mastercard remained the leader in 2018 in terms of both the number of cards in circulation and transaction value.

Leading issuer ICS offering the possibility of paying for train journeys by credit card

The main issuer in the Netherlands for credit cards continued to be International Card Services (ICS) in 2018. It offers a wide variety of both Visa and Mastercard operated credit cards and uses competitive offers to attract consumers.

Contactless features introduced by most major banks

Most major banks have been offering a contactless function for credit cards for some time, with ICS the first to introduce it a number of years ago. With ICS and Rabobank both early adopters of this technology, competitors were naturally pushed to follow suit with these two big players.

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